Kris Medlen has been in the position before of losing postseason pitcher, a reluctant expert in the field.
But, following Thursday night’s 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, the Braves starter at least held onto the consolation that this was but the beginning of a real playoff series, not the one-and-out, short-attention-span Wild Card game of a year ago.
“Obviously it’s frustrating,” he said, “but that’s the beauty of there being a series rather than just a one-game thing. I think it’s a lot different than last year.”
As difficult as it was to rescue anything cheery from Thursday’s one-sided game, Medlen tried.
It was Medlen vs. the Dodgers’ Cy Young worthy-ace Clayton Kershaw. It was a fifth-inning TKO, a bloody mess, really.
Kershaw rendered the Braves’ bats every bit as limp as the 45,000 foam tomahawks passed out to the patrons Thursday. He gave up one run in seven innings and accounted for 12 of the Braves’ 15 strikeouts for the evening.
Medlen made a Vegas-strip kind of first impression, bright and electric. He buzzed through the first three Dodgers hitters, striking out the side on 16 pitches. The Turner Field congregation offered its loudest hallelujahs of the season.
“It was probably one of the coolest first innings I’ve ever thrown with the crowd and whatever else,” he said.
But the wattage diminished quickly thereafter. Before he had recorded an out in the fifth inning, Medlen was relieved of the ball. His line: four innings, nine hits, five earned runs.
“I think it was just one of those games where even when I felt like I made pitches, they still found places to put them,” he said.
“They’re a great team, and when you have an opposing pitcher on the mound who is as good as Kershaw, I mean, there’s not a lot of room for error. And I had a lot of error tonight. If you don’t give up any runs, you don’t lose. We got one off Kershaw, and if I put up zeroes, it should be good enough. But it didn’t happen tonight.”
In his infant playoff career, Medlen has yet to reach any kind of working agreement with October. He stands 0-2 with a 6.10 postseason ERA.
No, one good inning of starting pitching is probably not going to be sufficient to hang with Kershaw.
Medlen might have escaped in the second inning giving up only one run had the Braves not been a little clumsy in the outfield. Center fielder Jason Heyward’s non-specific throw-in on Skip Schumaker’s sacrifice fly allowed Juan Uribe to advance to scoring position. Forced to try to make a play he was not built for, catcher-turned-leftfielder Evan Gattis dove for A.J. Ellis’ line drive. It bounced by untouched, the double scoring the Dodgers’ second run of the game.
“I think guys were just a little amped up there in that situation,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez stayed with Medlen through three-plus innings of rough road. Each inning seemed higher stress than the one before.
Adrian Gonzalez took the first pitch he saw from Medlen in the third inning — a change-up in the basement of the strike zone — to the furthest reaches of center field and beyond for a two-run homer.
“I almost let it go knowing he was sitting on (the change-up). I let it go thinking if I executed it, I could still get him to roll it over or whatever. It’s been a successful pitch for me and something I’ve been relying on the entire year,” Medlen said.
“But he’s one of the best hitters in the game. It was an 0-0 changeup, but it was a very bad 0-0 change-up. And he put a really good swing on it, and for someone to take it dead center like that, he’s got a good swing. I wish I could have got on base to tell him how good his swing is for him.”
Diagnosing Medlen’s evening, his catcher, Brian McCann said, “Just location. That’s the key to pitching. He was off just a little bit tonight.”
The Dodgers lead compounded by the inning. Medlen gave up another run in the fourth on a double to A.J. Ellis and an RBI single by Mark Ellis.
The Dodgers put men on first and second, nobody out in the fifth, prompting Gonzalez to pull his starter.
Medlen’s last pitch of the night caught rookie sensation Yasiel Puig in the small of his back — if indeed that broad structure has a small. His bruise no doubt will be a matter of a 15-minute panel discussion on ESPN.
Medlen can only hope he has another opportunity to pitch this postseason and correct the imbalance in his record.
“Obviously I need to change something,” he said, “but me and (McCann) had a game plan, and we tried to execute it as well as we possibly could.
“Like I said, when I made pitches, I felt like they put them in good spots and made some decent swings on them. But for the most part, they’re a good team, and with no room for error. You can’t give Kershaw any room.”
